The WaveCave gallery is a space for CalArts music students and faculty to develop and exhibit sound installations, video art or other expressive art work. Located next to the Roy O. Disney Concert Hall (ROD), the space allows artists to create interactive sound installations, video installations, interactive workshops, listening sessions and all forms of sound art and sculpture. The venue provides a unique opportunity primarily for MFA students in the Experimental Sound Practices, Music Technology, Composition, and Performer-Composer programs to create and develop sound-based installations.

During the Fall 2014 semester, the WaveCave will be populated with works by Experimental Sound Practices Program (ESP) alumni and current CalArts faculty. In spring 2015, the WaveCave will feature weekly exhibitions selected from a pool of proposals submitted by students and faculty from the Herb Alpert School of Music. A small curatorial committee of Experimental Sound Practices alumni and faculty will program the WaveCave for spring 2015.

The WaveCave is a simple 20′ X 20′ X 10′ square space with a shiny black floor and a grid-based ceiling to facilitate the hanging of art objects and equipment. The grid’s ceiling panels can be removed providing easy access to ceiling-mounted electrical outlets, ethernet ports, lighting fixtures, and dedicated cables that lead to a control room. The WaveCave control room is accessible from the gallery for stashing equipment that needs to be secured and placed out of sight during an exhibition. Two glass doors frame the entrance of the WaveCave, inviting visitors into the space. The WaveCave is located by the front entrance of the School of Music and the ROD Concert Hall lobby, providing a supplemental sonic experience for concertgoers and visitors to the School of Music.

Here are a few photos of the WaveCave’s location, grid ceiling, and control room.

Clay Chaplin, Fall 2014